Rockingham is a historic house that was the home of

John Berrien John Berrien (November 19, 1711April 22, 1772) was a farmer and merchant from Rocky Hill, New Jersey. He was appointed a justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court in 1764 and was a trustee of the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, fo ...

(1711–1772) and George Washington's final headquarters of the Revolutionary War. It is located at 84 Laurel Avenue, Franklin Township in Somerset County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. The house was originally located on the hillside east of the

Millstone River The Millstone River is a tributary of the Raritan River in central New Jersey in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''Garden State Canoeing'', Seneca Press, 2002. The Millstone River begins in western Monmouth County and flows westward throu ...

at Rocky Hill. It has been moved within southern Franklin Township several times, and is now closer to Kingston than to Rocky Hill. The residence is a featured part of the

Millstone River Valley Scenic Byway The New Jersey Scenic Byways system consists of roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey that have been recognized for their historical or natural qualities. List of byways There are currently eight scenic byways in the state of New Jersey: Bayshor ...

. The oldest portion of the house was built as a two-room, two-story saltbox style house ; a kitchen and additional rooms were added on in the early 1760s, expanding with the Berrien family. The first reference to the house as "Rockingham" does not appear until a 1783 newspaper advertisement to sell the house, a name given most likely in honor of the

Marquess of Rockingham Marquess of Rockingham, in the County of Northampton, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1746 for Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Earl of Malton. The Watson family descended from Lewis Watson, Member of Parliament f ...

. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on December 18, 1970, for its significance in military and social history. With Additional documentation was approved on January 11, 2010, after the house was moved in 2001.

John Berrien

John Berrien was a surveyor and land agent from Long Island whose business brought him into the Millstone River valley in the 1730s. In 1735, he purchased the small house that overlooked the river. Berrien eventually became a judge, first in Somerset County before eventually being named to the

Supreme Court of New Jersey The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases ...

. His first wife, Mary Leonard, of Perth Amboy, died in 1758 without bearing children; the next year, he married Margaret Eaton, whose father founded Eatontown, New Jersey. Together, John and Margaret had six children, four boys (including John Berrien Jr.) and two girls. John Berrien drowned in the Millstone River in 1772, leaving his estate in the hands of his wife. He is buried in Princeton Cemetery.

George Washington

General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

stayed at Rockingham from August 23, 1783, to November 10, 1783. He was invited to the area by Congress, who were headquartered in

Nassau Hall Nassau Hall, colloquially known as Old Nassau, is the oldest building at Princeton University in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. In 1783 it served as the United States Capitol building for four months. At the time it was built ...

in Princeton while awaiting the news of the signing of the Treaty of Paris to officially end the Revolutionary War. Washington was accompanied by three aides-de-camp, a troop of between twelve and twenty-four life guards, his servants and, until early October, his wife

Martha Washington Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 21, 1731 — May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington served as the inaugural ...

. He spent his time at Rockingham entertaining Congress and other local figures until word of the end of the War reached him on October 31. On November 2, Washington composed his Farewell Orders to the Armies of the United States at Rockingham, a document dismissing his troops and announcing his retirement from the Army.

House sold

In 1802, Margaret Berrien sold the house to Frederick Cruser, who continued the expansion of the house. Storage space and servants sleeping quarters were added to the kitchen wing, a second-story balcony added to the front of the house, and the roofline raised to accommodate a third-story attic. The Cruser family occupied Rockingham until 1841. The house changed hands many times until the 1890s when the property was bought by the Rocky Hill Quarry Company.

Moves

1897 move

The first move of the house was in 1897 to remove it from the Rocky Hill Quarry Company property in Rocky Hill. Kate McFarlane and Josephine Swann helped create the Washington Headquarters Association of Rocky Hill, which raised the money to purchase the structure and move it away from the quarry. In August 1897, the house was opened to the public. In 1935, ownership was turned over to the state of New Jersey.

1956 move

By 1956, the quarry had expanded and the house again was too close to active quarrying. Rockingham was moved a half mile eastward along County Route 518.

2001 move

The house made its final move in 2001. It now sits on a lot on Kingston-Rocky Hill Road, adjacent to the

Delaware and Raritan Canal The Delaware and Raritan Canal (D&R Canal) is a canal in central New Jersey, built in the 1830s, that served to connect the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadel ...

, on the outskirts of Kingston. The site reopened to the public in 2004 and is open year-round.

Timeline

Map of Somerset County, New Jersey - Rocky Hill detail, 1850

Rockingham has been owned by many individuals and moved three times since it was built: * House built on the hillside east of the Millstone River at Rocky Hill: *1735 John Berrien buys house and property *1783 George Washington uses Rockingham as headquarters *1802 House sold to Frederick Cruser *1841 House sold to Henry Duryee *1847 House sold to James Stryker Van Pelt *1869 House sold to David H. Mount *1872 House sold to Martin A. Howell * House and property sold to Rocky Hill Quarry Company *1897 House moved away from quarry, first move: *1956 House moved farther away from quarry, second move: *2001 House moved near Kingston, third move:

Gallery

File:Kingston Morning - Rockingham (15014789076).jpg, Front of Rockingham in 2014 File:Judge John Berrien House HABS back.jpg, Back of Rockingham with stone outer house still in place before the move

References

External links

*
Official homepage
* * {{NRHP in Somerset County, New Jersey Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey Historic house museums in New Jersey Museums in Somerset County, New Jersey Houses in Somerset County, New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Somerset County, New Jersey Relocated buildings and structures in New Jersey Historic American Buildings Survey in New Jersey 1710 establishments in New Jersey